Jurgen Klopp ‘ruined wonderful moment’ for us, says Shrewsbury Town owner after FA reject official complaint

Brian Caldwell says Reds boss broke rules by fielding a weakened team for FA Cup replay

Shrewsbury Town chief Brian Caldwell has called out Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp, saying the German ruined a “wonderful moment for our club” by fielding a weakened team in February’s FA Cup replay between the two sides.

Caldwell said his club formally complained to the Football Association (FA), accusing Liverpool of breaching FA Cup rules by not selecting a strong team for the tie, but revealed that the complaint was rejected last week.

Shrewsbury drew 2-2 with Liverpool in the teams’ first match to set up a replay at Anfield, where Liverpool’s under-23 coach Neil Critchley led out a young side after Klopp vented his frustration at the fixture falling in the Premier League’s winter break.

In a statement on his club’s website, Caldwell said: “We struggled to believe that [Klopp’s] statements had no effect on the replay being televised and we are convinced that LFC broke the FA Cup rules by not ‘fielding their strongest team’ in the return fixture.

“[It] had [a] knock-on effect of STFC not getting anywhere near the financial rewards that were to be expected from an FA Cup fourth-round replay, including a potential live TV fee against the world and European champions and Premier League champions-elect.

“In February we put a complaint into the FA about the alleged rule breach, but unfortunately, and quite unexpectedly, we were informed that this was dismissed last week (four months on).

“This without doubt resulted in a much lesser occasion for our players and fans as well as the financial reward that would have been expected from LFC playing their strongest team and abiding by the FA Cup rules.”

The statement also addressed the premature end to the League One season due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Caldwell saying the majority of clubs wanted "closure" after a long period of "frustrating" conversations.